Feeding a young child enough protein?

fromnebraska

Cooking for a family with different nutritional needs is so complicated... His dad complains that the food is too high in some macronutrient, usually fat(make your own damn food if you're not happy with it), but if it's higher in protein due to the addition of meat, his son won't eat it, and I can't eat the pasta/bread-based dishes that they both can. >.<

I eat a plant-based diet and my husband does not. Most of my meals that I prepare are made up of a grain (usually brown rice or quinoa), a veggie protein (black beans or chickpeas usually), vegetables, and then a piece of meat for my husband. That way my husband feels like he is getting a non-vegetarian meal and I am more than satisfied with my meal. These meals can be quick to prepare too--frozen brown rice, a can of black beans, frozen vegetables and 2 sausages. With a meal like the one I described, your whole family should be happy because they can choose the foods that they would like to eat.

Lleldiranne

You can check out the WHO guidelines/recommendations for protein if you are worried. But I seem to remember that the essential protein, at least to avoid kwashiorkor (malnutrition from inadequate protein) is actually quite low. Chances are he gets enough protein from other sources.

Peanut butter, cheese, nuts, beans, etc. All have good protein. It's completely possible to get sufficient protein without eating meat (vegetarians do it all the time). Look into complementary proteins, but I think the consensus now is that as long as he gets the different sources through the day (not necessarily just one meal) he should be ok. And I wouldn't worry about the fats from these protein sources unless he is overweight. Eating fat isn't going to make him fat, and even some saturated fats are okay.

shining_light

Vegetables do have protein. And he doesn't need as much protein as an adult would. Why don't you start keeping track of his protein intake? You might be surprised how much protein he is actually getting from his diet.

You know, I've never actually asked what he gets fed when he's at daycare. They serve the kids lunch, and I've been meaning to ask what he eats there. I have to assume it's heavily bread-based because that's cheap and kids will eat it, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. Everyone on the thread has certainly alleviated my concerns, and as I said, I got some great advice from his mom.

abeare

I was the same way as a child, drove my parent nuts because they were of the generation where you had to have on your plate a protein, starch, and a vegetable (steak, potato, peas). Never liked meat though and became a vegetarian an my teens. Now my son seems to be the same (my husband eats meat and so he`s tried to feed it to our son). There are many protein alternatives, legumes are my favorite source of protein. Don’t worry too much about protein, there’s lots of it in many other sources, but do pay attention to B vitamins as those are harder to find in non-meat alternatives.

shining_light

But do pay attention to B vitamins as those are harder to find in non-meat alternatives.

Off topic: Have you ever seen someone who's had basically an overdose of B-vitamins? It's hilarious because everything is sunshine and rainbows like they're high. My sister was raving about how she "f***ing loves egg whites!!". I don't remember how we figured out that it was the excessive amount of B-vitamins that she was consuming that was doing this to her, but she was a lot of fun to be around because she was so unbelievably excited about everything...

rbcrawford1

I have a five year old and an almost three year old, so I get having them eat what the family eats, but that usually means I cook something I know they should like or at least have liked in the past (it can definitely change day to day and it can take a while to figure out what is a go and what is a no-go!). Remember their little palates are more sensitive to ours and textures can be problematic. I think I survived on cheese alone for a good three years as a kid, and I am an adventurous eater these days. My general rule is that if I am preparing something that they have liked in the recent past or whose components I know they like, they don't get a different option. If I am presenting something for the first time, I ask that they try it and I'll make a PBJ or offer a bowl of cereal if they genuinely don't like it.

Whole grain pasta has great protein, as does high quality bread (Dave's Killer Bread is a favorite around here).

Also, think of dishes you can easily add meat to for the grown ups. My older one went through a vegetarian phase because he didn't want to eat animals--I didn't want to override his perfectly legitimate conviction, so it would be, say, cheese and spinach quesadillas for him while we had chicken, cheese, and spinach quesadillas.

I've had great success with using tortillas, whole grain pasta, or Annie's mac & cheese as bases for complete meals. We just add a veggie, cheese, and some sort of meat (pepperoni, ham, cubed chicken breast, flaked salmon, or good ol' canned tuna). Everybody wins, and it's easily customizable.

Good luck!